WOW...thanks for sharing this...it made me so sad when I heard before that Further was basically being allowed to rot...so wonderful to see that it will be up and running. Those Pranksters were something else, weren't they?? That whole era wouldn't have been the same without them...
Didn't Ken Kesey build another bus and drive it to Detroit where it's in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame? I thought the original (which I saw on Haight Street in 1967) was too far gone to be fixed. I've been on the bus even though I wasn't on the bus.
Kesey did get another bus he called Further, unlike the original "Furthur". The original sure looks too far gone to be fixed. I'll be happy if they can just get it looking good again and then tow it everywhere.
A Tale of Two Buses? Or is it A Tale of Two Cities, By Charles Dickens-The French Revolution. Dickens is depressing, Kesey is more fun! While doing a YAHOO search for: "Ken Kesey" and "Further", I came up with one excellant article on the Further buses and Ken Kesey. It was a LA WEEKLY "feature" article (DEC. 31, 2004-Jan. 6, 2005), as follows: The Day Glo Effect/ Exhuming Ken Kesey and Further 40 years after the Acid Tests, By Michael Hoinski. WEBSITE: www.laweekly.com/ink/05/06/features-hoinski.php It has two pictures of each bus, for an above and below comparison. I did another YAHOO search for: "Ken Kesey" and "Further" and "museum". I came up with another excellant article (w/mostly colorful photos): Larry Keenan-Modern Countercultural Gallery WEBSITE: www.emptymirrorbooks.com/keenan/m1997-2.html When you view this website, put your sunglasses on, as the colors are bright, bold and intense! You can taste the colors! According to this article, the "new" (i.e. second-generation) FURTHER bus is going to be inducted into the ROCK 'N ROLL HALL OF FAME AND MUSEUM, in Cleveland, Ohio. So, THUDLY's post, within this thread, is correct (at least according to the previously-mentioned websites), plus info at: www.key-z.com, also, which shows the "original" FURTHER bus being pulled out of a swamp and in a horrible state of needing repair. I think it needs a MIRACLE, instead, to restore. However, THUDY mentions DETROIT for the Rock 'N Roll Hall of Fame, but it's real location is in Cleveland, Ohio. Dearborn, MI does have the HENRY FORD MUSEUM, which does have the ROSA PARKS Birmingham, Alabama bus. It too was found in a bad state of needing repairs and restoration in a field in Alabama, until the Henry Ford Museum bought it and restored it to a like-new condition. Hopefully, the "original" FURTHER bus will restored to a like-new condition, also! Previously, on the Zane Kesey website: www.key-z.com, they offered actual rides on the "second-generation" FURTHER bus in Las Vega (on October 31, 2005/Halloween) for $750! Maybe, they drove to other cities, as well, but this info is not on the Zane Kesey site now, as that offer seems over with, but check again. As a side note: Newo, what's newo with youo? Cool ZIG ZAG man avatar picture, man! Many a 60's/70's hippie teen has seen the old ZIG ZAG man's face. If you know what I mean? One year, at the Ann Arbor HASH BASH, one dude painted a board like a ZIG ZAG container, cut a hole in the center, stuck his head through and became a living ZIG ZAG man! There was also a giant walking joint (with smoke) and a hot, sexy nurse handing out hemp/marijuana literature, mostly for legalization. I felt like I time-travelled to the Haight-Ashbury in the 60's! But this is only one day, though. Ken Kesey is from Pleasant Hill, Oregon and you, newo, are from Portland, Oregon. The last time that I was in Oregon was on July 4th, 1976. I was sitting on the edge of a sand cliff on HAYDEN ISLAND, in the COLUMBIA RIVER (between Portland, Oregon and Fort Vancouver, Washington) smoking a jay and looking at the boats (in the river) and people (at night) to view the 2nd largest BI-CENTENNIAL FIREWORKS display in the USA, fired off from Fort Vancouver! It was awesome, man! Farout! It took hours to get off of the island (by bridges only-Highway 5), so we parked in the Jantzen Beach factory parking lot and rested a awhile. I also thought that CRATER LAKE and the KLAMATH FALLS areas were cool places to groove at. My family, and I, stayed at the SALISHAN LODGE, in Gleneden Beach, Oregon (just south of Lincoln City, Oregon, on the Pacific Ocean). One of our old neighbors (from Michigan) was the ASSISTANT MANAGER OF SALES AND CONFERENCE DIRECTOR. Years, later he moved to Colonial Williamsburg, Virginia for another new job (where I've been, also). His parents (retired) moved to be near him, but he moved to the East coast, but his parents probably still live in Gleneden Beach, Oregon. We also drove by Coos Bay, Oregon, because Alice (from the book: GO ASK ALICE) went there in her "runaway" travels and thought that it was a cool place! I had to check it out. In Portland, we visited The Washington Park International Rose Test Gardens (terraced rose beds) and the LLYOD CENTER, which is Oregon's largest shopping mall, with 200 stores and designed by Frank Llyod Wright (the famous architect). I studied Architecture for three years in college, until I switched my major to Industrial Technology. "You're either on the bus, or you're off of the bus."-KEN KESEY You could also be over the bus (astral traveling), or under the bus, but let's not go there. "Sh*t floats, cream rises!"-KEN KESEY "Golly Mr. Kesey, This Sure is Some Swell Kool-Ade!" Peace out. Trip out.
That's a great web-site, Cosmicdust!---www.key-z! I doubt like hell they'll ever get Furthur running again. Just finding parts for a 1939 International Harvester schoolbus will be damn near impossible, though those old trucks and buses probably had many interchangable parts, and any kind of engine can be made to fit. Any body work will destroy what's left of the art-work, but, then again, nothing is really impossible if one sets one's mind to it. They have plenty of photos-- they can reproduce the artwork. I saw it in 1967 on Haight St. outside the Straight Theatre (I think). If I knew what the deal was, I would have went in. I knew who Neal Cassady was and knew he had been Dean Moriarty in "On The Road". I would have loved to hear him rap and do the drilling-hammer routine. Ah well-- maybe it's for the better. I turned out strange enough as it was.
The "Puffy Shirt" from Seinfeld, the Fonz's leather jacket and Archie Bunker's chair are in the Smithsonian, but Furthur was in the swamp. I thing something is very wrong with that. Peace, poor_old_dad
That statement reaffirms my belief that I am living my life with properly defined priorities. I have never seen an entire episode of Seinfeld, nor Happy Daze. Nor do I have a clue as to what the hell a "puffy shirt" is? I don't see a lot of historically accurate info on what went on in the '60's and suspect they couldn't give a crap about an old bus. But hey, SCREW THEM! I've had one hell of an interesting life and wouldn't trade my real memories for anything. Let history gloss over us as a curious side note. We know who got the ball rolling on the environment, equal rights, pushed acceptability of racial equality into the white mainstream (but we know who started it Rosa) job discrimination etc. Let them have their "puffy shirts" and leather jackets, and bubble gum/doo whop music memories. I understand they have John Dillingers penis in there as well, but probably not any examples of work by the plaster caster girls. LOL
I remember well The Plaster Casters! When I was road manager for the legendary Beatnik band, The Fugs, they wanted to do me, but unfortunately, their mold wasn't big enough. Yes, because of a genetic circumstance I missed my shot at immortality--but, such is life!
Yes, Furthur deserved better treatment than this: I have to wonder why Kesey "stoutly resisted all suggestions to move it" from the swamp. He said, "You're either on the bus or off it", perhaps in a way he had gotten off it. Anyway, this important piece of hippie history will soon be on display once more. Hallelujah!
hmm just that i read that the 'furthur' on the bus was just corrected later to 'further'...it would be great for it to be fully restored wouldn't it
furthur was spelled with 2 Us intentionally ........am glad to hear it is to be resurected .and no ..parts are not hard to find ...not on the internet....i have old 40s tractors and in the blink of an eye on the internet i find new or reproduction parts ...it's not like the international harvester trucks were rare........peace and a happy new year to all
